Glass; history, preparation, uses an optical fiber
First, they were vases, glasses and other objects used in our daily life. Then came windows, roofs and even entire walls made of this material made from sand. But, have we ever imagined that we could communicate through glass?
The origin of glass The first glass objects, necklace beads, were made by Egyptian artisans about 4500 years ago. However, the carved or molded hollow vessels did not appear until 1500 a.C. Recently during the Roman Empire, it was discovered how to blow glass and, little by little, this new technique displaced older ones, making possible, by the end of the first century, the large-scale production of everyday objects.
It was in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when the glass was of great importance in the production of stained glass windows for medieval churches. The material was colored and then cut according to the required design. The pieces fit into lead rods and were placed in an iron structure.
In the year 1668, in France, the first flat glasses were obtained that were used to make windows of carriages and mirrors. Today there is a wide variety of glasses that have innumerable applications.
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How is the glass processed?
The glass is made from the fusion of sand (silicon dioxide), soda ash (sodium carbonate) and limestone stone (calcium carbonate). Once the paste is prepared and melted, it is given an adequate form through different procedures:
- Laminate: Place the paste on a flat surface and smooth it with a double roller.
- Stretched: The glass is stretched in the oven, to get tubes or rods.
- Pressed: The molten paste acquires the final shape if it is poured into a mold and then pressed with a plunger.
- Blowing: Take a small amount of molten glass with the end of an iron rod to blow and give it a more or cylindrical shape while spinning on an iron plate. Then it is blown through the cane to obtain a bubble and, from it, to shape the desired shape by constantly reheating the dough next to the oven door. Currently, it is done automatically.
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Revolution in communications
The optical fiber is a cable whose central part is made up of highly purified flexible glass filings coated with a substance that refracts light very little. When the light enters through one of the ends of the cable, it is reflected in the cable and returns to the glass, repeating the phenomenon continuously. This happens because the coating material prevents light from escaping from the side surface of the optical fiber. In this way, the light will advance inside the cable producing a zigzag, until you reach the other end.
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Fiber optic cables have several applications, for example, in Medicine, to observe certain organs without the need for surgical intervention, and also in telecommunications.
Until a few years ago, coaxial cables used only thick bundles of copper wire covered with insulating materials, which allowed to establish a limited number of simultaneous communications. On the other hand, when replaced by optical fibers, communication possibilities increased considerably. For example, an optical fiber can transmit information of sounds or images equivalent to twenty-five thousand voices that speak simultaneously.
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What are the components of optical fiber?
The two essential components of the optical fiber are the core and the coating. The core is the inner part of the fiber and consists of one or several thin strands of glass the thickness of a hair. It is the one that guides the light. The rebar surrounds and protects the core. The assembly of core and coating is in turn covered by a plastic cover that protects against moisture, crushing and rodents.